Irish bar workers' health improves thanks to smoking ban
Air pollution in Irish pubs fell dramatically following the introduction of a ban on workplace smoking in the country, new research shows. Furthermore, the respiratory health of bar workers improved significantly after the ban came into force in March 2004. A team of researchers led by Luke Clancy of the Research institute for a Tobacco Free Society measured the levels of tiny particulate matter and benzene, both of which are found in cigarette smoke in 42 Dublin bars before and after the ban. They also tested the respiratory health of 73 bar workers before the ban and then again one year later. Their results are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Post ban, they found that levels of tiny particulate matter had fallen by 83%, while benzene levels had dropped by 80%. As for the bar workers themselves, pulmonary function tests improved dramatically among non-smokers, and the workers also reported fewer health symptoms. Overall, their reported workplace exposure to environmental tobacco smoke fell from over 40 hours a week before the ban to just 25 minutes after the ban. 'This study has served to show that a workplace ban on smoking can have immediate beneficial effects on respiratory health,' the researchers write. 'The longer-term health benefits such as in COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], asthma, and cardiovascular disease need more prolonged studies but can be expected to occur given the known harmful effects of secondhand smoke.' The research backs up other studies which link improvements in health to bans on workplace smoking; a recent Italian study revealed that hospital admissions for heart attacks in the under 60s fell significantly following the imposition of a smoking ban in the country. In an accompanying editorial, Fiona Godfrey of the European Respiratory Society notes that if all European countries adopted a similar policy to Ireland, 5-10 million premature deaths from smoking could be prevented over the next generation. 'The article by Drs Clancy and colleagues adds to the evidence from other studies that what smoke-free advocates have said all along is true,' she writes. 'Comprehensive smoking bans in bars dramatically reduce the levels of fine-particulate matter, chemicals and gases in the air and improve bar workers' health.
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